Dear Friends,
CO Hadas Amit (see
our previous update for details on her case), has been sentenced
today (1 Feb.) to 14 more days in military prison. However, as the
military prison for women is full right now, Hadas will only begin her
prison term this Sunday (4 Feb.) Accordingly, the demonstration in support for Hadas,
planned for this Saturday has moved to next Saturday (10 Feb.)
A full invitation to the demonstration will be sent later on.

This is the fourth
consecutive prison term for Hadas. She is due to be released
from prison on 15 Feb. Her prison address is the same as before:

Since we learned the prison
authorities block some of her mail from reaching her, we also
recommend you to send your letters of support and encouragement
to Hadas via e-mail to
amitdrch@gmail.com, and they will be printed out and
delivered to her on a family visit. In addition, you may want to
follow some of our recommendations for action below.

A brief update also on the case of Fidaa Saad, of whose
case we learned recently. Fidaa has apparently already finished
his first prison term (of 28 days) a few days ago. He has not
been exempted from military service, though, and will probably
return to prison again soon. We will update you on further
developments in his case.

Recommended Action
First of all, please circulate this message and the information
contained in it as widely as possible, not only through e-mail,
but also on websites, conventional media, by word of mouth, etc.

Other recommendations for action:

1. Sending
Letters of Support

Please send Hadas letters of
support (preferably postcards or by fax) to the prison address
above.

2. Letters to
Authorities

It is recommended to send letters
of protest on Hadas' behalf,
preferably by fax, to:

The War Resisters' International set up a web-based mailing
service, through which you can send a standard e-mail letter
(with added comments) to the Israeli Minister of Defence on
Hadas' behalf. The form is available on the WRI website, at:
http://www.wri-irg.org/co/alerts/20061218a.html.

Note, though, that Israeli officials tend to ignore their e-mail
boxes, and their e-mail addresses often bounce. A letter sent by
fax would probably be more effective.

Copies of your letters can also be sent to the commander of the
military prison at:

It would be especially useful to send your appeals to the
Commander of the Induction Base in Tel-HaShomer. It is this
officer that ultimately decides whether an objector is to be
exempted from military service or sent to another round in
prison, and it is the same officer who is ultimately in charge
of the military Conscience Committee:

For those of you who live outside Israel, it would be very effective to send
protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address
of your local embassy
on the web.

Here is a sample letter, which
you can use, or better adapt, in sending appeals to authorities
on the prisoners' behalf:

Dear Sir/Madam,

It has come to my attention that Hadas Amit, Military ID
6175691, a conscientious objector, has been imprisoned again for
her refusal to perform military service, and is held in Military
Prison No. 400.

The imprisonment of conscientious objectors such as Hadas Amit
is a violation of international law, of basic human rights and
of plain morals. The repeated imprisonment of conscientious
objectors is an especially grave offence, as it means sentencing
a person more than once for the same offence, and has been
judged by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to
constitute a clear case arbitrary detention.

Moreover, Hadas Amit's imprisonment comes after she had to
undergo a degrading and unfair hearing procedure by a military
committee, naturally biased against her as a conscientious
objector, and doubly biased against her as a woman conscientious
objector. Enacting such a procedure is in its own right a
violation of the basic standards of fairness.

I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release
from prison of Hadas Amit, without threat of further
imprisonment in the future, and urge you and the system you are
heading to respect the dignity and person of conscientious
objectors, indeed of all human beings, in the future.

Sincerely,

3. Letters to
media in Israel and in
other countries

Writing op-ed pieces and letters
to editors of media in Israel
and other countries could also be quite useful in indirectly but
powerfully pressuring the military authorities to let go of the
objectors and in bringing their plight and their cause to public
attention.